Huh?

Thursday, July 31

Friday, August 1
same store

At first glance I thought they had made a mistake on their sign, but after they changed the prices the next day, the "mistake" was still there.

The 7-11 about a mile or so down the street had the average 30 cents difference between regular unleaded and premium...

Real Moms

I just finished reading Real Moms: Exploding the Myths of Motherhood, by Elisa Morgan and Carol Kuykendall. At times, I felt the authors were speaking directly to me! Here are a few "real mom" statements sprinkled throughout the book that I connected with.

"A real mom . . ."

" . . . picks her kids' noses." Yes, I do that on occasion.

" . . . puts dirty socks on her kids when the clean ones run out." Sometimes you just can't keep up with all the laundry.

" . . . really likes to sleep, but when that sick or scared-from-a-nightmare child only wants Mommy, deep down she really likes that too." Thankfully those nights aren't very often, and I like them even better when I can go right back to sleep.

" . . . sometimes gets tired, frustrated, and mad at her kids."

" . . . fusses at her kids a good part of the day, then lingers over them as they sleep."

" . . . sometimes has bad days (or weeks)."

" . . . always loves her kids . . . she just doesn't always like them."

" . . . thinks that occasionally the television makes a wonderful babysitter."

" . . . shoves all the dirty dishes in the oven when an unexpected friend arrives." The dishwasher works great for hiding those things I haven't gotten to yet.

" . . . smiles at her little angels as she passes someone else's screaming brats in the grocery store - and knows she shouldn't." Yeah, this usually happens the other way around for us.

" . . . uses real plates when entertaining guests. But lots of times the family gets paper plates." They're in the pantry, second shelf, to the left.

" . . . hardly ever gets all the laundry folded and put away. She just grabs wrinkled shirts from the pile."

" . . . knows that childhood passes so quickly - but not quick enough some days." Grocery days!

Here are a few I came up with on my own:
*A real mom sometimes falls asleep while reading to her children and makes up nonsense words in the process.
*A real mom makes her children take swimming lessons, whether they want to or not. And she makes them go underwater to get used to it.
*A real mom wraps up an uneaten lunch and serves it again instead of an afternoon snack.
*A real mom makes sandwiches for lunch a little more fun by cutting them differently to make two houses. Sometimes she makes a window in each one to make sure they taste good. :o)

I'm sure I can come up with more, given a little more time. :o)

Got some "real mom" thoughts to share? I'm sure I can relate!

I'm Guilty

Apparently there's a list of 10 Words to Avoid When Writing. I am guilty of using several of them, if not all. After reading the reasons for not using certain words, I felt dumb. (Oops, there's one!) I'll provide the 10 words, but you'll have to read the article to see if you feel bad about making the same mistakes.

1. really (I use this one too much!)
2. you
3. feel (This one, too. In fact, I used it in the above paragraph. Twice.)
4. think
5. as
6. a lot (I use this one a lot often, too. )
7. sort of/kind of
8. like
9. just
10. used to

I thought for certain the over-used "that" would make the list.

I sort of, like, just used to feel like writing this way all the time, but now I'll make a attempt to choose better words so my writing won't seem weak.

HT: Bag of Nothing.

Empty Nest?

For the last week and half, I've been hearing little bird chirps outside our front window. Every few hours or so, I'd hear what sounded like little squeaks, and after a day or so, I finally figured out what it was. There are two bushes in front of the living room. The miniature rose bush is right in front of the window, but I couldn't see any birds' nests in it. The other bush is off to the left of the window, just far enough away that I can't see into it very well, but I'm pretty sure that's where they've been.

I suddenly noticed this morning that I didn't hear anything from them at all yesterday. I recall hearing some commotion Saturday afternoon, but I was busy and didn't really think anything of it. I don't know much about birds, but it seems awfully quick for them to be flying. Of course, I don't know for sure when they hatched, either. It could've been while the boys and I were away. But now I'm wondering if some of the stray cats in the neighborhood found them. I hope not, but it's entirely possible. I've heard quite a few cat fights out front here and there in the nearly two years we've lived here.

I may have to check when I go out to the mailbox this morning...

Update (6/25/08): The birds are still there. I'm listening to them right now, and I think I can see the nest near the front of the bush to the side of the window. I'm not going to go poking around, though, because I don't want to disturb anything. I'm glad they're still around and especially that no stray cats got them!

2007 Report Card

Around this time every year, I post an entry about my goals for the coming year. Last year I listed 13 Goals for 2007. I don't think I went back to look over my list more than twice, but they were always in the back of my mind. Let's see how I did...

1. Blog more regularly. - A
I think I had slowed down a lot with my blogging because I didn't really like Live Journal. Once I finally made the switch to Blogger in June, I started blogging a lot more frequently. I went from two or three posts a month to at least 5 or 6, and often many more.

2. Show more hospitality. - C
We had people over more often last year than the years before, but we still didn't have friends over like we wanted. We did host our small group several times.

3. Exercise regularly. - B
The first part of the year started out poorly. I tried to exercise in the mornings, but when the first illness of the year took hold, I quit. I did get going again in September and was sticking with it really well until we all got sick around Thanksgiving. I really enjoy going to the fitness center, so it'll be easy to get back in that routine again - starting Wednesday!

4. Get organized. - B
I finally got my closet cleaned out! It looks so much better. I also worked on getting the boys' closet straightened up, including getting rid of the clothes that no longer fit Jacob. I got my Pampered Chef paperwork and supplies organized somewhat, but I need to go through and clean out stuff again. I'm only giving myself a B, though, because it's not the consistent habit I'd like it to be.

5. Spend more time on my hobbies. - D
I did make some jewelry this year, but it was only a few pieces. I didn't scrapbook at all, but now at least my closet's clean and I can get to my supplies! I didn't crochet nearly as much as I'd liked, either.

6. Read more. - A
I've really gotten busy with reading for the self-study program I'm in. This time last year, I had only read 3 of 16 books - and I'd been enrolled in the program for 4 years! Once I finish my current book, I'll have 6 left. I'll need to finish up by mid-April so I can complete the program in time for graduation. (Billy's, not mine.) I've also done a lot of reading for pleasure, as always.

7. Watch less television. - F
This proved to be the challenge I thought it would be. Not only did I return to my old favorite shows, I started watching more of Food Network. I also got hooked on CSI and Lost. Oh, and The Office is pretty funny, too.

8. Play my guitar more. - F
Never took it out of the case. I didn't play my keyboard any, either.

9. Improve my customer care. - A
I did quite a bit of follow-up with my customers, which often proved beneficial, whether through encouragement, orders, or show bookings. I also started the year with a bi-monthly newsletter. That was hard, but came much easier when I changed it to monthly. I really enjoy putting it together each month.

10. Revise my host packet information. - B
I revised it, then revised it again. I'm still not completely satisfied with what I have, so I'll be working on it again soon.

11. Create new menu plans for my shows. - B
After realizing how much time I spent typing up recipes and putting them into a booklet form, I quit. I now give my hosts 2 or 3 options (instead of 5 or 6!) and email them the recipes after they've made their choices. It definitely saves time and money!

12. Increase my bookings. - D
I have a good list of hosts to work from, but I still didn't do as many shows as I would've liked. I held the same number of shows as I did last year (which was only 8 months since I started my business that spring) and sold about $500 less. I definitely did not do as well this year!

13. Build my own team. - F
I was excited when first thinking about building my team, but when it came right down to it, I was still pretty scared about talking with people about the business opportunity. I had a few more opportunities this year, but I'm still not pursuing it like I should. I did get one recruit, but she quit after holding 4 shows. It's not for everyone, but at least she gave it a shot.

Final tally:
A - 3
B - 4
C - 1
D - 2
F - 3

I'm blue. What are you?

You Should Have a Blue Christmas Tree

For you, the holidays represent a time of calm, understanding, and peace. You avoid family fights, and you don't get too stressed out - even when things are crazy! You like to make Christmas about making everyone's life a little bit better. You don't get caught up in greed or commercialism. You're too sincere for that. Your blue tree would look great with: Lots of silver tinsel You should spend Christmas Eve watching: It's a Wonderful Life What you should bake for Santa: Chocolate chip cookies

What Color Christmas Tree Should You Have?

(hat tip: Cindy)

My, how fast things change!

It seemed to take forever for the trees around here to look like fall. Last year, the colors were beautiful right before Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving, I remember thinking how drab everything looked, almost like we had skipped fall altogether. Then about 2 weeks ago, I started noticing all the brilliant oranges and yellows and the deep reds of fall. I had certain trees I'd look for as I'd drive through town. But the last few days' weather has really sped up the changes.

Friday, in spite of the gray day and the rainy afternoon, the bright yellow leaves from the tree outside the boys' window made it look sunny out.

Saturday was extremely windy. We were in the playroom decorating a gingerbread house, and later making Christmas cards, and we kept commenting about how loud the wind was howling as it blew around the corners of the house.

Sunday morning was our first frost of the season. As we drove around the front of the house on the way to church, I realized how bare the tree suddenly was. There are still some leaves hanging on, but not many. I'd say our tree lost 3/4 of its leaves in all the wind.

Monday morning was our second frost. When I opened the blinds in the boys' room for the day, all the formerly yellow leaves had changed to a dead brown.

I've never noticed that happen so quickly before. Or maybe it's just because I'm not in such a rush this year that I actually took the time to notice.